In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
It was still dark when Mark arrived
Maybe 6:45 in the morning time
In the tenth grade, we was tight friends
But neither of us had a driver's license
His mom was a flight attendant
And she'd leave town with a Cadillac unattended
So we used to get tempted,
That intense tendency to tend to what we wasn't meant to
We would skip out on class and shit
To go visit other schools, just tryin to act cool
And looking back I have to laugh at it
Cause all we did was burn up gas and flunk math fool
But still it was super ill,
I mean two teenagers in a new Seville
With 1987 in the tapedeck
That was a part of my life that I'll never forget
It went...
[Chorus 2X]
The soundtrack still runs through my head
I gotta keep every single step
As old as we get, we don't forget
We won't forget
We don't forget
And you can't tell me nothing about frontin
We wasn't even sixteen yet, come on jump in
Cruise control until we lose control
Max the low end out to let it bruise my soul
And god knows I should have been studying
So maybe I could grow up and be somebody
But I loved the looks that the girls shot at me from the bus stop
When we pulled up in that caddy
Good thing back then I had bad game
Otherwise there probably be a few with my last name
Better that my true love was rap
Now let it out on reverse, until the bad dub snaps
Felt so right, forgot we was wrong
Sittin at a stop light, singin along
When I look in my rearview now, what would I see
If I didn't have the music in my history, now give it to me
[Chorus 2X]
And we was just a couple of kids
It was right around the same time that nobody was beatin the biz
Had that, and I know you got soul
On a tape that I made, recorded em off a (?) show
I was addicted to the radio
Make my request, and wait for it
Holdin my finger on the pause button, like "now go"
I guess that was the original download
Rap videos and girls digits
A fifteen pack of blank cassettes for Christmas
Used to steal mom's change if it's easy to
We used to make up names for our graffiti crew
Used to talk about makin it big
And if we ever got rich, the way we would live
Hey Mark, we ain't there yet but
If you can hear my voice then turn your stereo up, like what...
[Chorus 2X]
Maybe 6:45 in the morning time
In the tenth grade, we was tight friends
But neither of us had a driver's license
His mom was a flight attendant
And she'd leave town with a Cadillac unattended
So we used to get tempted,
That intense tendency to tend to what we wasn't meant to
We would skip out on class and shit
To go visit other schools, just tryin to act cool
And looking back I have to laugh at it
Cause all we did was burn up gas and flunk math fool
But still it was super ill,
I mean two teenagers in a new Seville
With 1987 in the tapedeck
That was a part of my life that I'll never forget
It went...
[Chorus 2X]
The soundtrack still runs through my head
I gotta keep every single step
As old as we get, we don't forget
We won't forget
We don't forget
And you can't tell me nothing about frontin
We wasn't even sixteen yet, come on jump in
Cruise control until we lose control
Max the low end out to let it bruise my soul
And god knows I should have been studying
So maybe I could grow up and be somebody
But I loved the looks that the girls shot at me from the bus stop
When we pulled up in that caddy
Good thing back then I had bad game
Otherwise there probably be a few with my last name
Better that my true love was rap
Now let it out on reverse, until the bad dub snaps
Felt so right, forgot we was wrong
Sittin at a stop light, singin along
When I look in my rearview now, what would I see
If I didn't have the music in my history, now give it to me
[Chorus 2X]
And we was just a couple of kids
It was right around the same time that nobody was beatin the biz
Had that, and I know you got soul
On a tape that I made, recorded em off a (?) show
I was addicted to the radio
Make my request, and wait for it
Holdin my finger on the pause button, like "now go"
I guess that was the original download
Rap videos and girls digits
A fifteen pack of blank cassettes for Christmas
Used to steal mom's change if it's easy to
We used to make up names for our graffiti crew
Used to talk about makin it big
And if we ever got rich, the way we would live
Hey Mark, we ain't there yet but
If you can hear my voice then turn your stereo up, like what...
[Chorus 2X]
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Love this song. Brings back mad memories. I love the part about requesting his songs on the radio and then waiting for them to play so you he can record them. I totally used to do that. Funny stuff. Going to see him live again in two weeks. I always try to catch slug when he rips it's always worth the distance travelled